Recently, I had the privilege of speaking at an Evening of Kindness event in Melbourne, Australia, organized by Edgar’s Mission. I spoke to a roomful of animal advocates about compassion fatigue and burnout, and I offered some suggestions for self-care.

I’ve spoken on this topic for 10 years or so at various animal advocacy venues, but this time, when I addressed some of the triggers that can lead to burnout, I felt obligated to mention sexual harassment in our movement. After my presentation, the only questions and comments I got were about this topic, and they were all from women, including one who disclosed that she had experienced it. Clearly, the animal rights movement has a sexual harassment problem—and it has for a long time.

Sexual harassment occurs everywhere, but within the animal rights movement it is especially pervasive, in part because there are so many more women than men and in part because of the higher status men often have. Men are hailed as “heroes,” regarded as lending legitimacy to campaigns, and looked upon as natural leaders. Many of these men use their status to manipulate, harass, and even sexually assault female employees, volunteers, and interns within AR organizations. Women are told that if they speak out, they will be hurting the animals. In some cases, the victims are threatened with lawsuits or physical violence if they go public.

Consider for a moment the tragic irony of how sexism and misogyny (coupled with no small amount of male privilege) impact a movement that prides itself on working for liberation. Do the male CEOs, managers, supervisors, and others who treat women like objects and property not see how their attitudes and actions contradict the most fundamental philosophy of animal rights—not to mention how they’re forcing so many talented, hard-working, and compassionate women to leave?

With the growth of the #MeToo campaign, we are beginning to see certain men in power (and men almost always hold the power over women) held accountable for their behavior and crimes within politics and the entertainment and media industries. That rising tide seems to be lifting the animal rights movement, as well. Men are being terminated from their positions within animal protection organizations for harassing women—something I cannot imagine would have happened even a few years ago. Pressure is coming from donors, too. Tofurky, for example, now requires nonprofits that want a donation from the company to show they have a written policy for dealing with sexual harassment and protecting whistleblowers.

If you’re a man (or you identify as a man) in the animal rights movement, and you truly respect women and value them as colleagues, please:

Be a strong ally.

Believe them when they tell you they’ve been harassed or assaulted.

Ask what you can do to support them.

Do not tolerate sexist jokes or campaigns.

Respect women’s boundaries.

Do not normalize the behavior of abusers by making excuses for them or giving them a platform.

Remember, men, that you are fighting injustice; campaigning against one form of domination while participating in or allowing another perpetuates systemic oppression. Women drop out of the movement because of this.

I cannot overstate how serious or pervasive this issue is. Please take some time to read these recent blog posts by longtime animal activists lauren Ornelas, pattrice jones, and Carol J. Adams. These are very illuminating reads.

When I look back on this year’s wins for animals, what I am most struck by is a genuine sense of accomplishment. Yes, we have a long, long way to go. But from the skyrocketing popularity of veganism to the bans on various forms of animal cruelty, 2017 has been a year of encouraging news. Here’s a look at some of the top stories.

The year got off to a great start with Croatia’s prohibition on fur farms going into effect on January 1. The ban—which comes 10 years after the introduction of the 2006 Animal Protection Act—applies to the few remaining chinchilla farms and was the result of both activists and the general public speaking out against this cruel industry. Indeed, more and more countries have or are considering legislation to ban fur farming, including Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway.

Hoping to lead by example, Germany’s Federal Minister for the Environment Barbara Hendricks banned animal flesh from being consumed at all official government functions. “We want to set a good example for climate protection, because vegetarian food is more climate-friendly than meat and fish,” she said. Animal agriculture has been linked not only to climate change (accounting for nearly 20 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions), but to species extinction, ocean dead zones, water pollution, deforestation, soil degradation, and habitat destruction.

In what was hailed as a milestone for animals, Guatemala adopted one of the world’s most comprehensive anti-cruelty laws—legislation includes protections for animals used in research and circuses, wildlife, and companion animals. It also establishes bans on animal testing for cosmetics and on dogfighting and sets penalties for spectators of this blood “sport.”

When activist Anita Krajnc ignored a truck driver’s demand that she cease giving water to the thirsty pigs he was driving to an Ontario slaughterhouse as he was stopped at a red light in June 2015, she was not only charged with criminal mischief, but video of the confrontation was shared around the world. Anita’s case quickly became a flashpoint of debate, with her defense team famously contending that “compassion is not a crime.”

Though the judge did not necessarily agree with the argument that pigs are persons, not property, he cleared Anita of the charges, which carried potential jail time and a hefty fine. “I think one should always follow their conscience,” she told me days after the judge dismissed the case. “You feel good knowing that what you did was right. You can’t control what other people do, but you can control what you do. So you have to stand up for what you believe in.” (You’ll find the full interview here.)

This was one of the biggest stories of the year, and activists had good reason to celebrate. After nearly 150 years of abusing elephants, tigers, lions, horses, and other animals, the self-described “Greatest Show in Earth” finally ended. Officially, Ringling’s owners blamed high operating costs and declining ticket sales. But activists had been campaigning against the company almost since the beginning. (Indeed, in 1918, the Jack London Club, named in honor of the late author and animal advocate, staged walkouts from circus performances, which led to the company eliminating big-cat cage acts in 1925, but Ringling brought them back four years later.)

Unfortunately, Ringling’s demise does not mark the end of circuses with animal acts. To learn what you can do, please visit circusprotest.com.

In a vote of 132 to nine, Czech government officials passed a ban on fur farming this year. “This is a victory which proves that killing animals for fashion’s sake is no longer supported among the Czech politicians,” said Chamber Environment Committee chair Robin Böhnisch. “I hope that our legislators will set an example for their colleagues in other countries where fur farming bans are currently being discussed.”

The ban—which goes into effect January 31, 2019, after passing through the country’s Senate—will require the closing of nine remaining fur farms, which collectively hold some 20,000 foxes and minks captive in small battery cages every year and kill them by anal electrocution or gassing.

About 100 Chinese activists took part in this remarkable rescue, stopping a transport truck in Guangzhou, a city known as the largest hub for dog and cat meat consumption in the world. Activists said they were assisted by local police and discovered the truck driver did not have a health certificate for the dogs, which is a legal requirement when transporting animals in China. After a standoff that lasted 10 hours, the animals were released from the tightly packed cages. (While some 10 million dogs are consumed in China every year, let’s remember that billions of cows, chickens, pigs, sheep, and other animals are annually raised and killed for their flesh in the United States.)

As the saying goes, the truth hurts. And truth is just what the UK nonprofit Go Vegan World was speaking when they placed a national newspaper advertisement stating that “humane milk is a myth—don’t buy it” (pictured right). The ad continues with text that reads, “I went vegan the day I visited a dairy. The mothers, still bloody from birth, searched and called frantically for their babies. Their daughters, fresh from their mothers’ wombs but separated from them, trembled and cried piteously, drinking milk from rubber teats on the wall instead of their mothers’ nurturing bodies. All because humans take their milk.”

When dairy farmers complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) that the ad was inaccurate and misleading, the ASA sided with the vegan campaigners and gave it their approval, saying, “Although the language used to express the claims was emotional and hard-hitting, we understood it was the case that calves were generally separated from their mothers very soon after birth, and we therefore concluded that the ad was unlikely to materially mislead readers.”

Citing the “deprivation and cruelty suffered by fur-bearing animals,” fashion giant Gucci announced it will end its use of fur, beginning with its spring collection. “Gucci’s decision will radically change the future of fashion,” said Simone Pavesi, manager of animal-free fashion at the Italian animal rights group LAV. “As fashion becomes more and more ethical, supply chains that revolve around animals will be a thing of the past.”

Gucci will join the Fur Free Alliance, an international group of more than 40 organizations that campaigns on animal welfare and promotes alternatives to fur in the fashion industry.

In a move aimed at breaking the puppy mill and kitten factory supply chain, California lawmakers banned pet stores from selling dogs, cats, and rabbits who do not come from animal shelters and rescue organizations. Not only will this help weaken the unscrupulous trade in “pet” breeding, but it will ease overcrowding in shelters throughout the state. The law, which sets an important precedent for the rest of the country, takes effect on January 1, 2019.

“The use of wild animals for entertainment purposes in circuses can no longer be permitted” in Ireland, said the country’s Minister for Agriculture, Michael Creed. “This is the general view of the public at large and a position I am happy to endorse. This is a progressive move, reflective of our commitment to animal welfare.”

Because other EU nations had established bans on animals in circuses, some campaigners feared Ireland would become a “dumping ground” for animal circuses that had been legislated out of other European countries. The ban begins January 1, 2018.

It may seem insignificant in terms of lives saved, but when a California motorist left his vehicle to save a rabbit from a raging brush fire, the video captured by a news crew went viral. As you watch the emotional scene, remember that this is a man who is risking his life to rescue not his beloved companion, but an animal he just happened to see on the side of the road. (As of mid-December, there is some controversy about the identity of the bunny rescuer, but that takes nothing away from this heroic deed.)

Brenda Sanders is one of the busiest activists I know. She serves as the executive director of Better Health, Better Life, a public health organization, where Brenda runs the Eating for Life program, a series of free workshops aimed at teaching people in low-income communities how to live a healthier, more holistic lifestyle. In addition, she is the co-director of Open the Cages Alliance, an animal advocacy organization in Baltimore, Maryland, where she co-organizes the Vegan Living Program, a six-week education program that teaches the basics of transitioning to the vegan lifestyle. She is also the co-creator of Vegan SoulFest, an annual festival that celebrates culture and the vegan lifestyle in Baltimore City. Through Thrive Baltimore, a community resource center, she organizes vegan potlucks, screenings of documentaries, and talks for new and aspiring vegans. I was fortunate to get Brenda to take a break and chat with me about some of her work.

Why is food important to your activism?

Food is important to my activism because food is important. Food is a really important part of people’s lives. Food is a thing that brings people together. People come together around food. People plan their lives around food. I take that and use a vegan lens to direct the narrative.

There are a lot of social justice issues that are front and center right now, and I’m involved in lots of them: anti-racist work, food justice work, renters’ rights. I came out to a renters’ rights meeting, and I saw they were serving food. I decided that from then on, when I went to their meetings to stand in solidarity with the rights of these folks, I would be the one who would bring the food.

In the activism that we do at Thrive and everything from the cooking demos to the potlucks, food is a huge component and will always be a huge component. I let the organizers know that I would handle the food. It’s a way that I can be engaged and supportive, but it’s also happening through the lens I believe in. sometimes I will bring a little flier I wrote called “Why Vegan Food?,” which has information that’s relevant to other social justice issues, laying out why I believe that eating this way is just another component of justice. I’m always about educating, because people don’t know.

Do you have any advice for people who want to use food in their activism like this?

Start small. Start in your house. Start with a potluck or a dinner that you put together. Make it regular and start incorporating other things into it—maybe do screenings of vegan-leaning films to keep the conversation going. Once you have some momentum, I would say move to the next step, which is finding a space to start holding these events, because the more people engage, the more people attend, it will probably outgrow your house or apartment. So, churches, community centers, and libraries are great places to start expanding. Churches and community centers already have a population you can engage with. Tell them, “Come on out, have some delicious plant-based food you’ve never tasted before, see this film screening”—or whatever. Grow it from there. Find out what people are interested in.

Make it fun. You know, the world is serious enough. The world is hard enough. The reason so many come to our events is that we make sure people are going to have a good time. They’re going to leave glowing. I know that food justice is serious business, I know that animal exploitation is serious business, but that doesn’t mean that when you engage people, you have to come with the gloom and doom.

You’ve enjoyed some great success with your vegan mac and cheese events.

Yes, we hit a goldmine with the mac and cheese competition. People are super interested in mac and cheese. This event has taken on a life of its own. We’re going to have to go to the convention center because it’s just too big. We wouldn’t have done that with a chili cook-off.

What kind of reaction do you get from people who try vegan mac and cheese for the first time?

Disbelief. Amazement. Extreme surprise. Because they couldn’t even fathom cheese without dairy. Even if you try to explain it to them—”It’s cashews!”—they’re like, “I don’t … I can’t … this doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a good idea.” When they have it, they are always, always, always pleasantly surprised. We even had the mayor come out to the event last year, and she could not stop raving about the vegan cheese.

You mentioned screening films at your food events. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to do a film screening?

It’s really going to depend on your audience. Forks Over Knives is great for people who want to change their diet for health reasons. For people who are more animal-centered, I would say Peaceable Kingdom is a good one. For people who are more environmentally inclined, I would say Cowspiracy, although some environmentalists hate the film.

Screening films at libraries are your best bet, because they all have a room that they make available to the public. Usually for free, although sometimes you have to pay. If you are part of a community center or a church community, then those would be good. You can screen a film at home, if you can get access to a projector, which can be pretty cheap. Just screen it on a white wall. Connect your laptop to the projector and project it right onto the wall.

And you always pair the screenings with food?

Always. I never don’t serve vegan food. Ever. Even when we had a volunteer orientation—trying to bring in people who can consistently volunteer for our events—I made sure there was a whole spread. Everything I do, I make sure there is food. It’s just a rule, because we’ve got to be exposing people to plant food.

A lot of vegans dread holiday meals with families. Do you have any suggestions for making these easier?

No matter how much your family may be against veganism or vegan food, if you bring food, they will eat all of it. You may not even get any of it. [Laughs] They are going to rave about how good it is as they eat all your food and leave you with nothing. That’s the one thing I know that is inevitable. If you want to have any of your food that you brought to this family event, bring extra—hide some in your purse or your backpack.

What advice do you have for activists or vegans who might feel social pressure or receive criticism from their family and friends?

I’ve never felt any social pressure. And then I realized: I am the social pressure in people’s lives, because people don’t eat meat around me—and I don’t have to ask. I think that maybe my presence is so big and intense that I become the social pressure. I have always been very strong-willed. Once I make up my mind to do something, everyone falls in line around me. So, I probably have a bit of a different experience just because of that. The one thing I can say is, stand strong. Stand firm in who you are. This lifestyle is beautiful and it is good and it is right. We—people who are practicing veganism—we have to at least know that before we can go out into the world and try to be an example to anybody else. We have to know that this thing we are doing is good and just. We have to stand firm in that knowledge. Once we’re there, what pressure could possibly come against us?

It’s the end of an era in animal activism. After 12 years confronting and disrupting the activities of Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, Sea Shepherd says it is calling it quits.

“What we discovered is that Japan is now employing military surveillance to watch Sea Shepherd ship movements in real time by satellite and if they know where our ships are at any given moment, they can easily avoid us,” Captain Paul Watson said recently on the Sea Shepherd website. “We cannot compete with their military grade technology.”

In the last two years, Sea Shepherd ships have only caught glimpses of the Japanese whaling vessels. “Every time we approached them, they would be just over the horizon,” Captain Watson told The Washington Post. “They knew where we were at every moment. We’re literally wasting our time and our money.”

Moreover, Japanese authorities escalated their resistance this year with the passing of new anti-terrorism laws and said they might even send the military to defend their illegal whaling activities for the first time ever.

Captain Watson said his organization will continue its efforts against whaling around the world. “We will never quit until the abomination of whaling is abolished forever by anyone, anywhere, for any reason.”

A few years ago, as I was researching animal abuses for my book Bleating Hearts, I learned of a Jewish “religious tradition”* known as kapparot (also spelled kaparos, kaporos, or kapores), which is observed during the High Holy Days, the 10-day period between Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The ceremony, practiced by Orthodox Jews, calls for a live rooster (for men) or hen (for women) to be swung in a circle three times above the practitioner’s head while he or she declares, “This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement. This rooster/hen will go to its death while I will enter and proceed to a good, long life, and to peace.” The bird is then killed, and the animal’s flesh is supposedly donated to the poor, though some witnesses have seen the chickens simply thrown out with the trash. Kapparot is repeated in public spaces and outside synagogues throughout the world.

Most Jewish literature is careful to avoid using the word “sacrifice” when describing kapparot—preferring to call it “a symbolic act of atonement,” “a ceremony of expiation,” or, even more accurately, “a ritual slaughter.”

Whatever one calls it, the result is suffering and death for countless animals. Packed into small cages with other birds, chickens are routinely transported long distances and denied access to water and food. Karen Davis, founder of the non-profit United Poultry Concerns (UPC) and a longtime advocate for chickens and other domestic fowl, is particularly sensitive to the abuse these animals suffer during the High Holy Days. “The birds used in kapparot are sometimes sitting for as long as week without food or water, usually exposed to the elements,” she told me. “Whole flatbed trailers bring the chickens in to places like Brooklyn and the Bronx, where they just sit stacked in crates or cages before the actual ritual takes place. They’re being starved and dehydrated and left out in the rain. The birds are treated like rag dolls, like objects.”

With Rosh Hashanah approaching, UPC and other animal advocates are once again asking Orthodox Jewish leaders to embrace “compassionate kapparot” (a nice explanation of what this entails from Rabbi Jonathan Klein is here, even if he disses veganism) by replacing birds with bags of coins.

3. Support United Poultry Concerns’ efforts to win a legal victory for the birds by making a tax-deductible donation to help with their mounting Court of Appeal costs. Please donate by check for “Kaporos” to: UPC, PO Box 150, Machipongo, VA 23405, or by credit or debit card to their Alliance to End Chicken Kaporos Fund by clicking on http://www.endchickensaskaporos.com/donate

Back in 2004, Erik Marcus launched what I am pretty sure was the first vegan/AR podcast. (In fact, the word “podcast” had just been coined earlier that year by a BBC journalist.) Although it was called “Erik’s Diner” (and later “VegTalk”), the weekly show covered animal rights stories and interviews with activists alongside news about the food industry.

We’ve come a long way since then. Erik stopped podcasting in 2010, but the vacuum has been filled by many other excellent shows covering a wide range of topics within the movement and using a variety of formats, from polished, scripted discussion to loosely structured banter. I listen to a lot of podcasts, and I think these 10 are among the most informative and entertaining.

(I am limiting this list to podcasts, rather than radio shows like “Animal Voices Vancouver” and “Easy Vegan with JL Fields” that, while excellent, are radio broadcasts first before being archived as digital media.)

The Animal Law Podcast. Animal law is a tricky subject; after all, animals are legally considered “property” and have almost no rights. So how do animal advocates fight on their behalf and enshrine significant changes through statutes? Helping us understand the burgeoning world of animal law is animal law professor and longtime activist Mariann Sullivan, who examines the latest legal battles and interviews the brightest minds in the animal rights field while also offering her own insightful commentary. And she knows her stuff: Mariann is a former Deputy Chief Court Attorney in New York State and is now a lecturer at Columbia Law School. She has also taught courses in animal law and farmed animal law at Lewis and Clark Law School, NYU Law School, and other colleges.

Animal Rights (AR) Zone. Expect lively discussions with host Carolyn Bailey, who launched this Australian podcast in 2011 (first guest: Tom Regan). The show has since developed a more inclusive style, tackling so-called “intersectional” activism with interviews that reveal how animal liberation is connected with other social justice movements. Occasionally, rather than conversations with a live guest, “AR Zone” features “workshops” that discuss animal rights issues. All conversations are then transcribed and made available for further discussion on the site.

Animalogy. Created and hosted by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, another early adopter of podcasting, “Animalogy” explores animal-related words and common expressions and how they reflect and affect our relationship with animals. Because, as Colleen explains, it is through words that we objectify, diminish, and dismember animals. There is also a lot of very interesting etymology here. Who knew, for instance, that “capricious,” “caprice,” “Capricorn,” and the beautiful Italian island of Capri are all derived from capra, the Latin word for goat?

The Bearded Vegans. Andy Tabar, owner of the vegan message-wear business Compassion Co., teamed up with his fellow hirsute friend Paul Stellar to create “The Bearded Vegans” podcast. Episodes generally run more than an hour, and with plenty of good-natured humor the hosts talk about food, news, and sometimes reviews before they dive into a lengthy discussion on a topical subject, such as “Should vegans boycott Daiya?” or “Is National Animal Rights Day good for animals?” They occasionally interview activists, too.

The Compassion Fatigue Podcast. Hosted by therapist Jennifer Blough, a certified compassion fatigue specialist, “The Compassion Fatigue Podcast” is highly recommended for anyone suffering from activism-related stress (in other words, nearly all of us). I cannot emphasize enough how important self-care is. Oh, and Jennifer is a vegan!

Knowing Animals. Another podcast from Australia, “Knowing Animals” is hosted by Dr. Siobhan O’Sullivan. Each episode offers about 20 minutes of conversation with an animal studies scholar on their work, the law, ethics, and how the public can make a difference for animals. Siobhan has an extensive background in theory and research, so the discussion can be academic at times.

Our Hen House. One of the bigger success stories to come out of podcasting, the award-winning “Our Hen House” show was created by Jasmin Singer and Mariann Sullivan. They’ve done an episode every week since January 2010, and they are about to reach their 400th installment. The emphasis here is on activism, vegan products, news from the animal rights world, and at least one interview with someone from the movement.

The VeganAri Show. If you’re looking for a fun, laidback podcast, look no further. Ari Solomon and his husband, Mikko Alanne, discuss animal rights news, politics, food, entertainment, activism, new products, and life in L.A., all with a vegan/feminist perspective. As one iTunes reviewer put it, “The news can be so devastating and dreary, but when Ari and Mikko talk about it, they provide insight, social commentary, humor, and poignancy.”

Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack!Callie Coker and Nichole Dinato take a holistic approach to animal rights on their podcast, “Vegan Warrior Princesses Attack!” (They attack the issues head on.) The show is meant to be a source of support and community for people already dedicated to the lifestyle. Callie and Nichole do indeed attack important issues, but they do so with compassion and humor. You’re as likely to hear them discuss feminism or human rights as you are veganism on the show.

Which Side Podcast. Co-hosts Jordan Halliday and Jeremy Parkin say the focus of the Which Side Podcast (as in “Which side are you on?”) is to bring interesting content and conversations not unlike what you might experience around a table full of friends (well-informed friends, that is). The weekly podcast has been around since 2012, so they have an extensive archive of interviews to enjoy, including conservations with such activists as Ronnie Lee, Lori Marino, Daniel McGowan, lauren Ornelas, James DeAlto, Bruce Friedrich, and many, many others.

All of these podcasts rely on the support of listeners, whether through donations or reviews (or both), so if you like what you hear, please give them some love.

For many activists, it just takes one thing — one event, one conversation, one documentary, one something — to put them on a life-changing course. For Camille Labchuk, it was seeing the annual seal hunt on television in her native Canada. She was nine years old. “It was one of the first times I truly became aware that society treats animals in cruel and callous ways,” she says. It also made the seal slaughter very real, because it was happening in her own backyard. “I grew up in Prince Edward Island, in the Atlantic region of Canada. I knew about baby harp seals because they would sometimes wash up on the shores of Island beaches, and to know that they were being clubbed and skinned so close to my own home was unbearable.”

Today, Camille is an animal rights lawyer and the executive director of Animal Justice Canada, a national organization focused on animal law, including law reform, litigation, investigations, and education, and the only one of its kind in the country. Camille represents individuals and organizations in animal law cases, defends animal advocates, and seeks out litigation that enhances the interests of animals. Her work includes false advertising complaints against companies making humane claims; exposing suffering on farms; work on trophy hunting, circuses, zoos, aquariums, shark finning, and puppy mills; and, of course, documenting the commercial seal kill on Canada’s East Coast.

I appreciate Camille taking time from her very busy schedule to answer some questions about her work, animal law in Canada, and her advice for anyone arrested for animal activism there.

Can you give me a sense of how difficult your job is? What is the hardest part? And what is the most rewarding?

I truly believe I have the best job in the world. The law is such a powerful tool for social change, and being at the cutting edge of the new field of animal law in Canada is an honor and a privilege. Sure, constantly watching footage of animal cruelty can be difficult, and it’s always crushing to lose a court case or see politicians vote down an important law. But I couldn’t live with myself if I wasn’t fighting to end animal suffering and bring our legal system in line with Canadian values.

The most rewarding part of my job is reflecting on the progress we’ve already made, and imagining how much further we’ll have shifted the paradigm in another decade or two. Ultimately, animal activists are on the right side of history, and I predict we will win this battle sooner than any of us can imagine right now.

How would you characterize the state of animal law in Canada? Are you seeing improvements in protections for animals?

Canadians think of our country as kind, polite, and progressive, but those attitudes are not reflected in our animal protection laws, which are widely considered among the worst in the western world. Canada is one of very few western democracies without national animal welfare legislation to set standards for animal confinement, use, and slaughter. The few federal animal cruelty laws that do exist haven’t been updated since the 1950s, and the federal government recently blocked an attempt to modernize these protections to ensure sadistic animal abusers do not continue to escape criminal prosecution for their violence.

The vast majority of animals held captive and slaughtered in Canada are farmed animals (more than 771 million in 2016, not including fishes — their lives are measured in tonnes). Yet the federal government doesn’t regulate on-farm conditions for animals, essentially letting the farming industry set its own standards. Canada’s farmed animal transport laws are 40 years old, and a recent government proposal to update the laws would still allow animals to be transported for days at a time without food, water, or rest, and suffer and die from exposure to Canada’s blistering heat and extreme cold.

There is also disturbingly little oversight of animal experimentation in Canada, with only voluntary, non-legal standards for laboratories existing at the national level. The Canadian public has no meaningful access to laboratory records, inspections, and outcomes, and thus no way to oversee what is happening behind closed doors in animal experiments.

Canada still subsidizes the commercial seal slaughter, the largest mass slaughter of marine mammals on the planet, done for seal fur. Encouragingly, the number of seals killed is dropping dramatically as countries around the world close their borders to commercial seal products.

The laws that do protect animals in Canada are chronically under-enforced. Canada largely leaves enforcing animal protection laws to private SPCAs and humane societies — charities that must raise money to cover their operation and enforcement costs.

Yet there are glimmers of hope. Undercover investigations over the last five years have helped expose hidden abuse in the farming industry, in laboratories, and in zoos and aquariums. There is a bill before Parliament that would ban keeping whales and dolphins in captivity; the province of Ontario recently banned orca whale captivity; and the Vancouver Parks Board recently stopped the Vancouver Aquarium from continuing to confine cetaceans. There are also federal bills that would outlaw cosmetic tests performed on animals and ban shark fin imports into Canada.

Animal lawyers are also starting to advocate on behalf of animals in courtrooms, such as in the Supreme Court case of R. v. D.L.W., a disturbing case about the sexual abuse of animals. The Court accepted the argument of intervener Animal Justice and ruled that protecting animals is a fundamental societal value — the strongest-ever statement on animal protection from the country’s top court and an incredible precedent. And in a case involving an elephant named Lucy, imprisoned by herself at the Edmonton Zoo, the chief justice of the Alberta Court of Appeal wrote an incredibly dissenting judgment recognizing the interests of nonhuman animals.

Animal law issues are constantly in the news in Canada and are becoming a real part of the national conversation.

How important do you think it is for animal cases like these to get exposure in the media?

Getting media attention for animal law cases can sometimes be just as important as the outcome of the case. For instance, Canadian activist Anita Krajnc was recently charged with criminal mischief for giving water to thirsty, dehydrated pigs on their way into a slaughterhouse. The charges were laid at the behest of the meat industry, but their tactic backfired: the intense media exposure and international interest in the case educated millions of people about the horrific cruelty suffered by animals in the food system. Anita Krajnc was acquitted following a trial, but the real victory of the case is that she succeeded in putting the meat industry on trial for unimaginable animal abuse.

Media attention can also influence the outcome of a case. In one recent Canadian case, a compassionate police officer was charged with misconduct after rescuing a kitten from a bad situation in drug den. Why? Because the kitten was property, removed without the owner’s consent. Animal Justice filed an application to intervene, and we helped turn the case into a major media story. When we showed up to argue our case, the prosecution agreed to settle, confirming that police have an obligation to rescue animals as part of the general police duty to preserve life. This helped ensure there won’t be a chill effect on animal rescue.

Does the law reflect the way society views animals?

I’m a firm believer that society leads the law — not the other way around. In other words, politicians and judges will only create new legal standards that reflect attitudes the public already holds. In the case of animal protection, there has been a massive shift in public consciousness over the last few decades about the way society should be treating animals. People know more than every before about the horrific suffering endured by animals used for food, fashion, experiments, and entertainment, and they want this to end. The law hasn’t yet caught up to societal attitudes about animals, but animal advocates and animal lawyers are beginning to make progress. Our job is to enshrine these values into court judgments and legislation.

What advice do you have for activists who would like to practice animal law in Canada?

Animal law in Canada is still a very new field of practice, and would-be animal lawyers must be bold in charting their own courses and seeking out opportunities. My own path led me to practice criminal law for several years before starting up my own animal law practice. I volunteered part-time with non-profit animal law organization Animal Justice at the same time, and helped build the organization up from a small team of volunteers into a larger, national organization. This eventually led to full-time employment in animal law.

There are still very few paid animal law positions in Canada, so I recommend having a back-up plan in the early stages. Find an area of legal practice that pays the bills, and volunteer your spare time by doing pro bono legal work for animal protection organizations. I made a point of volunteering for as many animal protection organizations as possible before, during, and after law school, and it was these contacts that helped me get enough work to pay the bills while I had my own animal law practice. If you can make the jump to full-time animal law practice or working for a non-profit, go for it!

You’ve also represented animal rights activists. Do you have any advice for people who find themselves arrested for engaging in activism in Canada?

First, don’t talk to the police — I meant it, not a word! Second, call Animal Justice. We vigorously defend the rights of animal advocates; without people to speak up on their behalves, animals won’t have a voice in our political and legal systems. Activism is essential to animal protection. We help connect activists with top-notch criminal lawyers who can help defend against activism-related prosecutions.

Lastly, do you have any advice for animal lovers who want to lobby their legislators on animal issues?

Lobbying our political representatives is essential to helping animals. Politicians are under immense pressure from the billion-dollar industries that harm animals, and unless politicians hear loudly and clearly from constituents who care about animals, nothing will ever change.

Meet with your legislators often — that’s federal, provincial, and municipal — and bring as many friends or family members from the community as you can. Come armed with facts and a specific ask, such as supporting or introducing a piece of legislation. Make sure your legislators know they won’t get your vote unless they support animal protection issues. After a meeting, a phone call is your second best option, followed by sending an email. Political staff track the number of phone calls and emails they receive on an issue, and most politicians pay close attention to the mood of their constituents. And don’t do this just once: make a point of reaching out regularly to legislators.

During elections, it’s important to find and support animal-friendly candidates — volunteer to knock on doors, make phone calls, and donate! Legislators remember the people that help them get elected, and you can use this goodwill to ensure they do the right thing once in office.

Last week, a judge in Canada dismissed charges against activist Anita Krajnc, who was arrested in 2015 after giving water to a thirsty pig bound for slaughter in Ontario. She faced up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine. Her arrest and trial received international attention, and the group she started in 2010, Toronto Pig Save, has inspired similar groups within the animal “save” movement around the world. Anita was kind enough to chat with me about her trial and her activism and offer a few words of advice to other activists.

Congratulations on being acquitted of criminal mischief. Are you at all surprised by the verdict?

It’s an issue that really resonated with the public—that compassion is not a crime … that giving water to pigs is not a crime. I was actually hoping for a lot more, maybe some legal precedents, but that didn’t happen.

If you had been found guilty, would you have paid the fine?

I probably would not have paid it. I would have said, “It’s not right.”

Was there anything about the trial that surprised you?

Yes. I was impressed by Judge Harris, because he accepted all my lawyers’ defense as exhibits. Like, when they presented VR [virtual reality] headsets showing iAnimal from Animal Equality, he accepted that as evidence of how pigs are treated informed the work we do, including giving water to pigs. He accepted the 12-minute video, which was shown in court and shows pigs being electrically prodded into a gas chamber and shows one of the pigs trying to jump over the enclosure and the worker putting the prod in his ear. It was really gruesome evidence of how they’re treated.

He accepted another video, which showed pigs at Richard Hoyle’s Pig Preserve. I had shot a video where Richard talked about how pigs have 30 different vocalizations; they have 120 or more ways to communicate, when they combine a vocalization with a body posture or facial expression, like showing their tusks. He talked about how they formed groups, that they’re matriarchal, that they forage in the forest for berries and squash, that they like some types of grass.

So we’d gone over who pigs are in a more natural setting with their friends and family, and also how they’re treated.

The charges were dismissed, but it was because I did not interfere with property—the “property” being the pigs. I didn’t stop the truck. I didn’t prevent those pigs from being slaughtered. So the judge said I’m not guilty.

Will your activism change at all as a result of this trial?

It didn’t change our forms of activism at all, even after I was charged. I have since given water. Other people have given water to thirsty pigs. The trial has taken almost two years, and during that time we’ve continued to give water to thirsty pigs on hot days. But I was surprised the trial didn’t intimidate other people in our group. The first vigil we held after I was charged, people got right in front of me and started giving water. I thought, “OK, obviously it has not impacted people.” And, our movement has really grown a lot. At the beginning of 2016 there were about 50 groups, by the end of the year there’s 100, and there’s almost 150 now. So it’s growing exponentially. And it’s growing in interesting places. Like, there’s a Hong Kong Pig Save, and at their first vigil they gave water to pigs. There are two groups in Sweden, and they give water to pigs. There are four groups in South America now. One of the groups is called Save Movement Lima; at their first vigil a few weeks ago, they gave water to cows. There are almost 40 groups in the United Kingdom. So this idea of giving water to thirsty animals going to slaughter is an international phenomenon.

[In addition to the vigils, Anita explained they started doing vigils right in front of the slaughterhouse, where they unload the pigs.]

We were bearing witness to the poor pigs, who the workers were unloading with electric prods and paddles. We had two sites and doing three vigils a week, so it was a very intensive grassroots campaign, and it’s site specific, targeting one slaughterhouse.

When you look at the groups around the world, sometimes they use that strategy of bearing witness, and sometimes they use what they call a city vigil. It’s in the city, at an intersection, where the slaughterhouse trucks pass. They might not be able to get near a slaughterhouse, but they are at a busy intersection and they are raising public awareness about slaughterhouses in their communities.

Photo by Jo-Anne McArthur

Both of your attorneys, James Silver and Gary Grill, are vegan. Do you think that was important to your defense?

Yes. Both of them are vegan for 20 years or more, and they fought a very inclusive defense. They could have fought it in a very narrow way and just said, you know, I’m not guilty; I didn’t interfere. But instead they invited expert witnesses to talk about the environmental and health consequences of animal agriculture. They brought in Dr. Lori Marino, as well, to talk about the sentience and feelings and personhood of pigs. She said that the definition of a person is someone who is autonomous, self-aware, has complex emotions, and is sentient. She said that under that definition, pigs are persons, not property. Scientifically, and of course ethically, we know pigs are not property or objects—they are persons or beings. But in Harris’ judgment, which was presented in a very black-and-white way, he said they are property. It’s very sad. He had an opportunity to move the law, and basically he took a very conservative, procedural approach.

Their main defense was that I was acting in the public good. I was a good Samaritan doing what is right. But the judge dismissed that justification. Turns out the judge is a farmer—I just found this out. He came from a farming community. But he was still open-minded.

Do you think the media coverage impacted the public’s opinion of your activism?

I think it definitely increased support for what we’re doing. First of all, it increased awareness—people didn’t know. With the media coverage, the public actually got to look inside the trucks. The media was looping that incident of June 22nd [which prompted Anita’s arrest], which we fortunately videotaped. I said the pigs were dying of thirst, and the media would show a video clip of the poor pigs in that truck with open mouths, panting and foaming at the mouth. Clearly they were really, really thirsty.

Then the media would link to our videos. Water for Poor Angel Victims was one of the first videos we did in 2013, and the media linked to it and the views went up by 150,000. So there was way more support because they were spreading knowledge and information about what we do. For the first time, images of these pigs were getting out. So the images that you and I know so well began to infiltrate the mainstream. It’s been incredibly positive. And more people are getting involved, which has always been our objective. We don’t just want people to change their diet; we want them to become activists.

Speaking of activists, do you have any advice for people who are facing prosecution for compassionate actions like yours?

I think one should always follow their conscience. You feel good knowing that what you did was right. You can’t control what other people do, but you can control what you do. So you have to stand up for what you believe in. Historically, a lot of social movements have fought battles in the legal realm. You think of desegregation legal victories, pro choice legal victories. The law is one place, but what is clear is that what is ethical and what is legal is often very different. So it’s important to always be focused on what is ethical.

On the other hand, in terms of creating public awareness, our group was around since 2010, and we’ve been doing weekly vigils since July 2011. So we’ve done more than a thousand vigils just in the Toronto area. We got a little bit of media coverage here and there. When the trial happened, it was unbelievable. In the pre-trial stage, it became a national media story. From the standpoint of any activist who does this, we look at [the bearing witness vigils] and say, “Oh my God, if only the whole world could just see what we see. Look at these animals in the truck. If people just saw this, they would not participate in harming these animals.” But something like a trial is very easy for the media to cover. They are pressed by their advertisers to not cover our vigils. It’s harder for them. But when there’s a trial, it’s very easy for the mainstream media to cover it. I believe there’s good people in the media. By and large, the media coverage was really, really positive and supportive. Also, this case was a simple story: somebody is charged for an act of compassion. Not all cases will be this simple.

Was there anyone or anything that gave you strength or inspired you?

Definitely Leo Tolstoy. Throughout the trial I was reading him a lot. Particularly that point about one should just follow their conscience. Who you are is determined by your actions, not by what other people say. Whatever the outside environment is—whether it’s adverse or supportive—what matters is what you do. That’s the basic principle Tolstoy advanced, and I lived it. I was charged, but I wasn’t worried, because I did the right thing, no matter what the consequences were. And I will continue to do the right thing. I always said, I’m going to follow the Golden Rule, no matter what the court decides.

Dolphins are truly remarkable animals. Early cultures so highly regarded dolphins that they featured them in their mythology and artwork. The ancient Greeks, for instance, often depicted Poseidon and Aphrodite accompanied by dolphins, and Indigenous peoples in Brazil have long venerated the Amazon river dolphin as sacred, considering it bad luck to kill or eat one.

Scientists believe dolphins are the second most intelligent beings on Earth (after humans) and have argued that they should be treated as nonhuman persons.

In some ways, we’ve loved these animals to death. We want to be close to them – so close that we’ve learned how to capture dolphins through violent hunts in places like Taiji, keep them in tiny tanks, breed them, and “train” them to perform tricks for our amusement. The gentle curve of their mouths give them the appearance of always smiling, even as they are suffering at human hands.

Captivity, recreational boating, commercial fishing (as “bycatch”), and habitat loss through coastal development are just a few of the threats dolphins face. In honor of National Dolphin Day, here are seven things we can do to help them:

1. Protect the oceans. Dolphins live there, after all. We can start by not consuming marine life and minimizing our individual use of plastic, which often ends up in the ocean.

2. Never patronize businesses that keep dolphins (or other animals) in captivity – this includes places that let you “swim with dolphins.”

3. Speak out against the Taiji dolphin hunts. The notorious annual dolphin hunts take place near Taiji, Japan, from about September 1 until at least March. Every year, fishermen locate pods of migrating dolphins out at sea and herd them into Hatagiri Bay with boats, nets, and long metal rods that crew members dip below the surface and pound to create an acoustical wall that disorients the dolphins’ sonar. The fishermen leave the animals overnight in a narrow cove and return at dawn armed with the knives and spears that will gradually turn the blue tide scarlet. While many dolphins are killed for meat, others are sold to zoos and marine parks worldwide, making the drives an incredibly lucrative business.

Contact authorities in Taiji, as well as the Japanese Embassy, US Embassy to Japan, US and Japanese Ambassadors to the UN, and the US Senate members of the Committee on Foreign Relations. Call or send them a polite message expressing your feelings about the dolphin hunts and ask them to do everything in their power to help put an end to the misery.

(The position of US Ambassador to Japan is currently vacant; I’ll update this post once it is filled.)

4. Join volunteers in Taiji. You can also volunteer with Sea Shepherd or The Dolphin Project on site in Taiji. Those who are interested in volunteering as a Sea Shepherd Cove Guardian should email groundcrew@seashepherd.org. (Please note that volunteer applicants must be able to commit to participating in the campaign for a minimum of one week.) To sign up to join Ric O’Barry and his Dolphin Project team as a Project Cove Monitor, please click here.

5. Contact travel companies and travel agents. It was great news when Thomas Cook and TripAdvisor recently stopped offering or promoting travel to attractions that exploit dolphins and other animals. But plenty of travel companies and travel agents still feature attractions and hotels that keep cetaceans in captivity. When you see a company promoting dolphin captivity, ask them to reconsider. If they don’t respond, send an email to coveguardians@seashepherduk.org.

“Life has a strange way of leading you to where you need to be,” writes Tom Ryan in Will’s Red Coat. The aphorism is arguably as applicable to animals as it is to humans, as is clear in this powerful follow-up to Ryan’s 2011 bestseller Following Atticus. While that book centered on Ryan’s relationship with his canine friend Atticus, the emphasis here is primarily on Will, a deaf and mostly blind senior dog whom Ryan adopts. Will has other health challenges, and he’s not expected to live more than a few months when the author and animal activist brings him from a New Jersey kill shelter to his home in bucolic New Hampshire. He simply wants to give Will a peaceful place to die with dignity.

But then something surprising happens: Will flourishes. What follows is a beautifully written memoir of acceptance, trust, compassion, and friendship that manages to avoid the clichés that afflict other books regarding the human-animal bond. One of the things I most appreciate about Tom Ryan is that he never condescends to Will and the other dogs in his life. He treats them as his peers—not “fur babies,” but individuals who deserve the same considerations that humans do. He doesn’t shout commands at Will and Atticus, for instance, but asks nicely, as when he cautions one of them to be wary of wildlife: “Be careful, my friend.” Some readers may find it remarkable how animals respond to being accorded such courtesy.

Fans of Ryan’s first book will be happy to know that Atticus figures into this narrative, too. But this is really Will’s story. He arrives with baggage Tom and Atticus never anticipated—including some very aggressive rage issues of the bared-teeth-and-snapping-jaws variety—disturbing the tranquility of their home and challenging Ryan’s patience. Yet through it all, he treats Will with tenderness, recognizing that this elderly dog with severely limited senses had been abandoned by aging guardians who could no longer care for him and suddenly found himself navigating a strange new world. Will’s trust in others would come slowly, if ever, and would be hard-earned. I was constantly impressed by Ryan’s perseverance and wondered how tolerant I would be under similar circumstances; indeed, this book has inspired me to be more understanding of others—or at least try to be.

Ryan introduces us to some of the humans who have influenced him as well, most notably his Aunt Marijane, a former nun who ran a special education school and later did hospice work. Marijane shows her nephew a way of life that is non-judgmental and reminds him that “Dogs and coyotes and owls and bears and people are all the same inside. … We fear and love and get angry and are happy. We all have compassion and empathy.” The two share an abiding kinship with nature and an easy rapport.

The arc also follows Ryan’s evolution from an everyday “animal lover” to his discovery of how animals are treated in factory farms, zoos, circuses, and other enterprises that profit from exploitation. In considering his own treatment of animals, he eventually embraces veganism, thanks in no small part to knowing people who thrive on a plant-based diet and to having access to a wealth of vegan cookbooks. “I love animals,” he writes, “and yet I had done my best to ignore where the hamburger on my plate came from, the suffering of chickens that led to buffalo wings, or how many lives had to be sacrificed to fulfill my desire for barbecued ribs.”

A keen observer of the human condition, Ryan narrates the story with the voice of a philosopher-poet, bringing to mind many of the writers (Emerson, Thoreau, Muir, et al.) he mentions throughout. He has an extraordinary outlook on life (and death), and if he doesn’t manage to change your view of the world, however slightly, he’s at the very least certain to give you a lot of food for thought.

The writing here is even better than in Following Atticus—the prose is lyrical (without being sappy) and more assured. You by no means need to have read Following Atticus before reading Will’s Red Coat, but you will doubtless get added pleasure by having done so.

For me, the sign of a good book is not just how it makes me feel, but if I would read it again; I plan to return to this one many times over, revisiting the spirit of compassion and hope that fills its pages. Will’s Red Coat is very highly recommended indeed.

Note: You’ll be able to buy Will’s Red Coat on April 25 (though you can pre-order it now from your favorite bookstore). In the meantime, you can check out Tom Ryan’s blog here and visit his Facebook page.